


Of nonfiction books and first encounters

by mseg_21



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: And a flirt, Bookstore AU, Eddie is short, First Meetings, Flirting, M/M, Modern AU, Reddie, Swearing, What else is new, and angry, richie is a dick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-28
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2019-04-13 22:58:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14122671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mseg_21/pseuds/mseg_21
Summary: What starts with Eddie Kaspbrak asking for Richie Tozier’s help to get a book from the top shelf at the nonfiction section of a bookstore, somehow ends with both of them going out for coffee, committing book theft (sort of) and getting banned from the bookstore, not particularly in that order.





	Of nonfiction books and first encounters

**Author's Note:**

> It appears that I have adopted the task of writing Richie and Eddie’s first meeting in as many different alternate universes as possible. This time is a bookstore AU. ENJOY :)

It was the first week of classes and Eddie was already done with this semester. It was as if all of his professors had refused to acknowledge the fact that they lived in the digital era. Instead of having their students download the books they would need on their laptops and tablets, they had required that they either bought them or borrowed them from the library.

And as Eddie’s bad luck would have it, when he arrived at the library on Wednesday, less than three days after classes had started, to check out said books, he found out that his over enthusiastic classmates had already beat him to it and had borrowed all of the available copies, leaving Eddie with no choice but to buy them.  

That was why Eddie had spent the last two days going from bookstore to bookstore trying to find the books and using all the money he had made over the summer to pay for them. He had been able to find the first three but was struggling to find the last one. Either the book “American’s Hidden History” had been an entire hit and everyone had bought all of the copies or it had been a bust and every bookstore had gotten rid of it when it failed to earn them money. He had gone to five different bookstores already and hadn’t been able to find it.

Right now, he was at bookstore number six and hopefully the last one he would have to visit. As Eddie approached the counter to ask the girl behind it if they had the book, he decided that if they didn’t, he was giving up and abandoning this fool’s errand. If his teacher wanted him to have the book so badly, he could get it for Eddie himself.

Once he reached the counter, Eddie cleared his throat and said “Excuse me, hi.” The girl just gave him an unimpressed glance and went back to typing on her phone, so Eddie continued, “Uh, I’m looking for a book-”

The girl snorted, “Are you, now?” She said, voice full of sarcasm.

Eddie frowned, both at her apathy and the way she was smacking her chewing gum in the most annoying and gross way possible.

“Yeah. The book is called “America’s Hidden History”? Could you, like check if you guys have it?” He said, trying to be as polite as possible, something the girl, Greta according to her name tag, didn’t care about at all.

Greta put her phone down, her face pinched as if Eddie asking her to do her job was a terrible inconvenience, and started to type on the computer next to her.

“There’s one copy. Second floor, aisle three. Nonfiction.” Greta said and went back to her phone, effectively ending their interaction.

“Alright, thanks.” Eddie said, but he wasn’t sure if she had even heard him say it.

Once on the second floor, he found the aisle Greta had said easily, the book itself not so much. Eddie couldn’t figure out the way the books were organized, it wasn’t alphabetically by name or author’s name, it wasn’t by release date or by subject, it wasn’t even by color.  Therefore, he was forced to check book by book until he found the one he was looking for.

Eddie started on the lowest shelf and worked his way up, so of course the book he needed had to be on the last shelf he checked, it also happened to be the highest and the one he, most definitely, couldn’t reach.

When he was a kid, Eddie had been told repeatedly that he was going to stay short all of his life, he was told by his mom, his doctor, his teachers, the bullies at school. He had realized they had all been right when he was 14 years-old and all of his friends started to hit their growth spurts but he stayed the same. Which is why he had been in fact grateful when, at eighteen, he had grown to an acceptable 5-foot-5 and had resign himself to the fact that he would most likely stay that way for the rest of his life.

Most of the times, his short stature didn’t bother him. Sure, sometimes it annoyed him when Bill’s 5-foot-8 ass left the cereal on the top shelf and he had to climb on the counter to reach it. Or when Bev, who was 5-foot-5 herself, decided to wear heels and Eddie had to stand on his tiptoes if they were going to take a picture, so that he didn’t look like her little brother instead of her friend. Or when he had to show his ID at bars, but none of his friends had to, even though he was the oldest out of all of them. So yeah, when things like that happened it was a bit irritating, but not a big deal.

Right now, though it wasn’t annoyance he felt, right now, he was feeling downright hatred towards his stupid short ass. He looked around for a stool or a chair he could use to get the book, but there was nothing. As for people that could help him get the damn book, there wasn’t anyone in second floor, in fact, he hadn’t seen anyone in the first floor either, only Greta.

The thought of having to go downstairs and ask Greta, who was probably taller than Eddie, to help him get it made him want to jump from a freaking window.

Eddie was weighing his options while glaring at the book as if that would make it drop in front of him when he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. He grabbed a random book and pretended to be reading its back cover while trying to sneak a glance at the stranger and how tall either he or she were. The stranger turned out to be a he, Eddie was able to tell even before seeing him, since the guy was singing along under his breath to a song Eddie couldn’t hear.

Out of the corner of his eye, Eddie caught a glimpse of the guy when he stopped in front of a bookcase at the end of the aisle he was in. Upon seeing the guy’s height, Eddie snorted at the universe’s sense of humor. Luckily for Eddie he didn’t hear him, probably because the volume of the music he was listening to on his headphones was cranked up so loud even Eddie could hear it. The guy had curly hair that seemed to never have come in contact with a hairbrush, he wore thick-rimmed glasses and had a questionable sense of fashion, he was also, if Eddie had to guess, around 6-feet tall.

Eddie glanced one more time at the book as if hoping it was suddenly in his reach before letting out a defeated sigh and approaching the stranger.

He cleared his throat and said, “Excuse me.” But the guy kept his eyes on the bookcase and kept muttering the words to whatever song he was listening to, unaware of Eddie’s presence.

Knowing the guy probably wouldn’t hear him, no matter how much he raised his voice, Eddie tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention.

The guy jumped and turned around, his hands coming up in a karate stance that made Eddie take two steps back. While he came to the realization that Eddie wasn’t trying to jump him and lowered his hands, he had the chance to check the guy out. The universe really must have had something against Eddie, as if having to ask a stranger to help him get a book he was too short to reach wasn’t embarrassing enough, said stranger had to be attractive as hell and completely Eddie’s type. He could feel himself start to blush and he hadn’t even asked the guy for help yet.

Eddie was considering walking away, leaving the bookstore and this beautiful stranger behind, stupid book be damned. But before he could get himself to move and do just that, the guy took off the headphones and spoke.

“Shit, man. You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that. I almost karate-chopped you.”

Eddie snorted, the guy was tall, sure, but he was also lanky, and looked as if he had never done a day of exercise in his entire life. He didn’t say anything though, he wasn’t about to insult the guy whose help he would need.

Instead, he said, “Sorry, I tried to get your attention but I’m guessing your music was too loud for you to hear me.” Eddie said, pointing at the headphones around the guy’s neck.

“Uh, yeah, sorry about that. It’s a problem of mine, it drives my roommate fucking crazy when he has to throw something at me to get my attention. Although I’ve come to realize Stan might actually enjoy having to do that.” The stranger chuckles, then he looks at Eddie and proceeds to blatantly check him out. He must have liked what he saw, because a smirk appeared on his face before he said, “Loud music or not, though, a face like yours would get my attention anytime.” 

Feeling his blush intensify and unsure of how he should respond to such an obvious attempt at flirting, Eddie only said, “Uh, okay.”

The guy chuckled, amused. “So, what can I do for you, cutie?”

Eddie scrunched up his nose, “First, you could _not_ call me that.”

“Then give me something else to call you. What’s your name?”

“Eddie.”

“Okay, _Eds_ , tell me what can I do for you then?” The guy said with a smirk.

Eddie stared at him, dumbfounded, “Did all that loud music give you permanent hearing damage? I said Eddie, not Eds.” He said, irritated. Eddie had always hated nicknames.

The guy let out a loud laugh, “I wouldn’t be surprised if it did. But I heard right, I just like nicknames.” He shrugged his shoulders.

“Well I hate them.” Eddie said, flatly. Then he added, “Anyway, what I need is for you to help me with a book.”

He stared at Eddie in confusion, “Uh, I’m sorry, cutie, but I don’t work here.”

“I told you not to-” Eddie sighed, even though he had known the guy for less than five minutes, he already knew there was no way of keeping him from calling Eddie whatever silly name he wanted. He chose to let it go and instead said, “I know you don’t work here.”

“Then I don’t see why you think I could help you, sugar.”

Eddie took a deep breath and prepared to embarrass himself in front of this odd but incredibly hot stranger, “I, uh, I need… uh… Ineedyoutohelpmegetabookfromthe topshelfbecauseI’mnottallenoughtoreachit.” He said quickly.

So quickly in fact that the guy must not have understood because he was staring at Eddie with a perplexed expression. “You’re gonna have to run that by me again, angel. Slower this time.”

Eddie sighed and without looking at him, he said, “I need you to help me get a book from the top shelf because I’m not tall enough to reach it.”

When he didn’t get an answer, Eddie looked up only to find the guy grinning widely at him. The amusement in his eyes was making Eddie wish he had gone to Greta for help instead, at least he knew how to deal with glares and eye rolls.

He was about to tell the guy to forget the whole thing, when he spoke, “Sure thing, Shortie Mc Shorts. Where’s the book?”

Eddie groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, “I’m really regretting asking for your help.”

“Ah, don’t be like that, bug. I’m just messing with you.” The guy chuckled.

“Well, stop. It’s annoying.”

He snorted, “If you asked any of my friends, they would tell you that’s practically my second name.”

Curious, Eddie asked, “What’s the first?”

The guy smirked, “Trying to find out my name, huh cutie?”

Eddie rolled his eyes, “Forget it.” He turned around and walked away from the guy, back to the nonfiction section. He heard him laugh and thanks to the guy’s long legs he was beside Eddie in no time, the reminder of his superior height only annoyed him further.

“It’s Richie. Richie Tozier.”

“Well, Richie Tozier, can you please hand me that book, the second to the left so I can go crawl in a hole and die of embarrassment for having to ask for your help in peace?” Eddie said, pointing at the book in question.

Richie chuckled, “Don’t be embarrassed, my small friend. There’s nothing wrong with being short.”

Eddie glared at him, “I am not short! These book cases are just freakishly big. It’s actually discriminating for us, average-heighted people!”

Richie snorted and without much effort grabbed the book from the shelf. Instead of giving it to Eddie, though, he held it over his head and therefore out of Eddie’s reach and taunted Eddie by saying, “That wasn’t so hard.”

By now, Eddie was genuinely angry, he glared at Richie and shouted, “Yeah, for you, you fucking noodle-limbed lamp post!”

At that, Richie burst out laughing, which only made Eddie angrier.

Still laughing, Richie said, “Shit, Eds. You’re just adorable. An adorable little thing.” He said, pinching one of his cheeks.

And Eddie, Eddie simply lost it at that.

Without a second thought, he pushed Richie.

Either Eddie had more strength than he was aware of or Richie had zero balance, because upon being pushed, he took a few steps back trying to regain his footing, his arms flailing, trying to find something to hold on to, only to collide against a table of nonfiction bestsellers and finally hit the ground, dragging a bunch of books down to the floor with him.

Eddie stared in shock at what he had caused, eyes wide, mouth hanging open.

Richie, glasses askew, headphones missing, was looking around as if confused as to how he had ended up on the floor with books around and on top of him.

“Richie, oh my God, I am so-” Eddie started to say, but before he could continue apologizing, he heard someone coming up the stairs hurriedly and a few seconds later, Greta came into view.

As soon as her eyes settled on the two boys and the mess around them, her expression turned murderous.

“You two,” she growled, “Out. Now.”

Still from the floor, Richie put on a charming smile and looked at her with big brown, apologetic eyes. “Listen, babe, there’s no need for that. This was just a terrible accident and Eds and I are really sorry. Aren’t we, Eds?” He looked up at him, expectantly. When Eddie just gaped at him, Richie motioned with his head to a glowering Greta, telling Eddie to follow his lead.

So Eddie began apologizing again, this time to her, “Yes, we are. I am. This was my fault. I’ll clean everything up and pay for any damage, I promise.”

“We both will.” Richie said and stood up, using the table he had collided against as support. He managed to get on his feet but the action caused the few books that had survived the first hit, to topple over and land on the floor, adding to the mess that was already there.

Eddie grimaced and saw Greta close her eyes and pinch the bridge of her nose in exasperation. “Get out.” She said.

“But-”

“Right the fuck now. Get out. Or I’ll throw both of your stupid asses down the stairs!” She yelled.

Eyes as wide as they could go, Eddie nodded and headed towards the stairs.

“Yes, ma’am” Richie said, before picking up his things and following Eddie.

They were halfway down, when Greta yelled, “And if either of you ever shows his dumb face here again, I’ll call the police!”

Eddie flinched and even Richie had the common sense to look a bit embarrassed at that. There were two or three people in the first floor when they came down and by the way they were staring at Eddie and Richie it was clear they had heard the entire thing. They hurried past them and walked out of the bookstore.

They leaned against the side of the building in silence until Richie spoke up.

“Note to self, next time a pretty guy asks for your help, say no. Or else, you will end up being shoved against a fucking table of books.”

Even though he didn’t sound mad, Eddie flinched at the words. He turned to face him and frantically started to apologize, “Richie, I am so so sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. I don’t know what came over me. I just, I got angry and the next thing I knew you were on the floor. I’m sorry.”

Richie waved him off, “I was only joking. It’s okay, Eddie. Besides, I deserved it. I was being a dick.”

Eddie shook his head, “No, no.” But when Richie raised his eyebrow at him, he added, “Okay, you were, yeah. But that is no excuse for me to push you. Please forgive me.”

“You’re forgiven, Eds, sorry, Eddie. Don’t worry about it.” Richie said, with a small smile. Then, when Eddie nodded, that smile turned apologetic, “I should apologize as well. For calling you names and mocking your height. I just, I have practically no filter most of the times, but when I’m talking to someone attractive that filter is completely non existent so, I say a lot of things that I shouldn’t. I’m sorry.” He said, rubbing the back of his neck, embarrassed.

Eddie offered a small smile, “It’s okay.”

Richie smiled back. They stared at each other for a while before Richie’s expression turned thoughtful, and he asked, “Would now be a terrible time to ask you out for coffee?”

The question surprised Eddie, even if Richie had called him cute and attractive repeatedly and had been flirting with him in his own weird and, if Eddie was being honest, effective way the entire time they had been speaking to each other.

Richie must have misinterpreted his surprise for rejection, because he said, “Shit. Forget I asked. It was a terrible idea. You don’t have to answer or anything. I’ll just go crawl in a hole and die of embarrassment.”

Eddie chuckled, “Hey, that’s my line.” And before Richie could say anything, he added, “I’m free right now if you want to go get that coffee.”

At that, Richie chocked on his spit but tried to cover it up by clearing his throat. “Holy fuck, yes!” he exclaimed enthusiastically, making Eddie giggle. Then he added, in a more composed manner, “I mean, yeah, I’m free, sure.”

“There’s a great coffee shop just around the corner. We can go there, if you want.”

“Lead the way, Eds. Shit, I mean, Eddie.”

Eddie laughed, “You know, Eds is not _that_ bad. You can use it if you want.” He said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Are you warming up to me so much that you are actually giving my nicknames a chance? Man, I’m good.” Richie said, smugly.

Eddie snorted, “Don’t make me regret it, Tozier.”

Both of them were smiling as they walked towards the coffee shop. Maybe Eddie’s teachers and their hatred for digital books weren’t so bad after all, if he hadn’t ended up at that bookstore looking for-

“Fuck me!” Eddie exclaimed, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk.

Richie gave two more steps and then turned around to face Eddie. Amused, he said, “I mean I wouldn’t say no, Eds. But we just met. Not to mention we’re in public.”

Eddie frowned at him, “What? No. The book, Richie.”

“What book?”

“What to you mean, what book? The one I went to the bookstore to find. The one you helped me get. I’ve been looking for that book for two whole days, went to five different bookstores before this one and now I can’t go back there to buy it without risking to unleash the wrath of book clerk Greta. _That_ book, Richie.” Eddie said in dismay, covering his face with his hands.

“Oh, you mean, this book?”

Eddie looked up in confusion, only to find a very smug Richie holding said book up in his hand.

“What? How?”

“I slipped it in my back pocket when Greta wasn’t looking, before she went all she-hulk on us and started yelling at us to get out.” He shrugged. Eddie stared at him, dumbfounded. “Here. It’s yours.”

Richie handed the book to Eddie, “No! It’s not mine, it’s not yours either! You stole it!” Eddie said, scandalized.

“Jeez, Eddie. Why don’t you scream it a little louder? I don’t think they heard you at the police station.” Richie said, sarcastically.

“We’re taking it back.”

“No, we’re not. Or fucking Greta will in fact call the police.”

“We can’t just take it!” Then Eddie lowered his voice and added, “It’s a crime!”

Richie snorted, “Aren’t you adorable? It’s a ten-dollar book, Eds, it’s not like I stole the Mona Lisa. Chill.” Eddie only stared at him, unconvinced, “You can think of it as a courtesy for being yelled at. I mean, that was some terrible customer service.”

“We trashed her work place, Richie. Getting yelled at was the least we deserved.” Eddie said, but he took the book in his hands, nonetheless.

Richie shrugged again, “Details, details.” He could see Eddie still wasn’t entirely on board with committing book theft, so he sighed and added, “I’ll slip a ten under the door tomorrow before they open, if it will make you feel better and accept the book.”

Eddie narrowed his eyes at him, “You will?”

Richie nodded, then held up three fingers from his right hand, “Scout’s honor.”

“Were you even a boy scout at some point?”

“No, but my best friend Stan was, that’s got to count for something.”

Eddie snorted, but let the issue go. He stood on his tiptoes and kissed Richie’s cheek, “Thank you for getting the book for me.” He said with a smile.

Smiling sweetly down at him, Richie said, “Sure thing, Eddie Spaghetti.”

Eddie’s eyes widened. “Oh my God, absolutely not.” He said, appalled. “I refuse to be called… _that_. I’d sooner let you call me ’cutie’ and ’sugar’ and all that nonsense, before that.”

Richie laughed, “Whatever you say, angel. Although, I believe Eddie Spaghetti is an adorable nickname. Perfect for an adorable boy like you.” He said with a smirk.

Against his will, Eddie felt himself start to blush. “Shut up, Richie.” Eddie said, but he couldn’t fight off the smile threatening to appear on his face. Richie winked at him before they both continued walking toward the coffee shop, occasionally knocking their shoulders together and smiling the whole time.

* * *

 

Later that day, when Eddie was back at his dorm room, eating cereal in his bed, watching an episode of ‘Friends’, with Richie’s phone number saved in his contacts as “Tall freak” and a heart emoji and the knowledge that they would be seeing each other again next week, for dinner this time, he glanced at the book on his desk and made a mental note to buy his professor a fruit basket at the end of the semester for sending Eddie after that book. So what if it he had to go to six different bookstores and had ended up being banned from one, at least he had met Richie.

And if you asked Eddie, he would tell you that meeting Richie definitely made all of that, worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked this story, please please, leave a comment or come talk to me on tumblr at @jem-cartairs-is-perfection ♥ I love knowing what you guys think!!


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